Why you should have an Agent?
Life Insurance is a somewhat complicated, even a complex undertaking. Almost every day you hear on the radio or television ads touting buy Life Insurance direct and save tons of money. They proclaim that buying insurance directly from the company is going to be less expensive and easier, but is that true?
Life Insurance will cost the same amount.
Well in most cases this is incorrect because life insurance companies by law must give a broker the same price that they give you and pay them commissions as a cost of doing business. The insurance company has to pay for the advertising to get you to the company, so the cost of getting a new client will be the same or higher. they usually will not give you a better rate, it’s just a fact of doing business. So the idea that getting life insurance online is cheaper, it’s basically an advertising technique that is designed to get you to call or to make a purchase. There isn’t any real advantage to buying life insurance direct and that’s what the insurance carrier would want you to believe.
Well, you ask, what are the setbacks to using a broker? because we’ve all heard of people being taken advantage of by Insurance Agents. Yes, that may be true, but that is the case in most situations where you make a purchase dealing with a sales agent. That is not the usual case however because agents are now required by law to be more ethical. If an agent is caught cheating an old person out of money, they could lose their license. There are strict guidelines that should be followed when changing someone’s current policy to another company to make sure that the client isn’t being taken advantage of. It’s just a bad reputation that won’t go away. You’re going to be better off with an agent because you have someone who has your best interest at heart, as opposed to someone who has is concerned with the carriers bottom line. In most cases the agent only gets paid if you continue to pay your premiums, so he wants to make sure that you’re satisfied. The only real setback would be for you to find an agent that you could work with.
Claims
Now finally when it comes to making a claim, who do you want to speak with, your agent who has vested interest in making sure that the policy regulations are carried out to the best of his/her ability, or an employee of the insurance who’s position company is to do their best to make sure that claims are kept to a minimum. Buying insurance online may seem like the best thing to do, but usually is a bad choice. Your agent is on your side, take advantage of that. Do your homework on pricing and then call your agent back. If he’s not an independent agent look for someone online that’s in your area. We would be more than happy to make sure that your life insurance buying experience is a pleasant one.
So, in conclusion, if you were looking for an article that tells you that you were smart about buying direct, I’m sorry because this comes up with the exact opposite information. I hope that you have benefited from what you have read here. Please feel free to stop by our website and leave your contact information if you have any questions.
Bill Ware
Aware Insurance Services
